Shotover River
Encyclopedia
Otago
Otago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island. The region covers an area of approximately making it the country's second largest region. The population of Otago is...
region of the South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. The name correctly suggests that this 60 kilometre-long river is fast flowing, with numerous rapids. Despite this, the name comes from Shotover
Shotover
Shotover is a hill and forest in Oxfordshire, England.Shotover Hill is east of Oxford. Its highest point is above sea level.-Early history:The toponym may be derived from the Old English scoet ofer, meaning "steep slope"...
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
The river flows generally south from the Southern Alps
Southern Alps
The Southern Alps is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the island's western side...
on its journey running through the Skippers Canyon, before draining into the Kawarau River
Kawarau River
Kawarau River drains Lake Wakatipu, in northwestern Otago, New Zealand. The river flows generally eastwards for about 60 km and passes through the steep Kawarau Gorge until it joins Lake Dunstan near Cromwell. The Shotover River enters it from the north; the Nevis River enters it from the south...
ten kilometres east of Queenstown
Queenstown, New Zealand
Queenstown is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It is built around an inlet called Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin Z-shaped lake formed by glacial processes, and has spectacular views of nearby mountains....
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The Oxenbridge Tunnel at Arthurs Point is a 170 m (557.7 ft) tunnel that was part of a failed mining scheme by the Oxenbridge brothers, attempting to divert water from the river to recover gold from the riverbed. It was registered as a Category II Historic Place in 1985, and is used by rafters and kayakers.
Tourist operations
Gold miningGold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
featured in its early history and it was one of the richest gold bearing rivers in the world. Gravels washed down from surrounding schist hills naturally concentrate any gold, early prospectors got considerable quantities just by panning. It is now a popular river for tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
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The river is used for commercial
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
white water rafting
Rafting
Rafting or white water rafting is a challenging recreational outdoor activity using an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water. This is usually done on white water or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers. The development of this...
trips and jet boating
Jetboat
A jetboat is a boat propelled by a jet of water ejected from the back of the craft. Unlike a powerboat or motorboat that uses a propeller in the water below or behind the boat, a jetboat draws the water from under the boat into a pump inside the boat, then expels it through a nozzle at the...
rides which operate out of the nearby tourist resort of Queenstown. There are bungy jumping sites on the upper reaches of the river around Skippers Canyon.